Your Presence is Requested at Suvanto

by Maile Chapman

American nurse Sunny Taylor works at Suvanto convalescence hospital. Here, she takes care of the ‘up patients’ – a group of wealthy women who seek respite during the cruel Finnish winter months. At first, this appears to be a harmless story of pampered ladies indulging their ailments under the protection of Sunny and her team. But, subtly, it becomes an rather unnerving tale, which left me questioning things I had previously taken for granted.

Extract

He had believed, without phrasing it, in the hygiene, in the motivating idea of the place: a place for those who are not incapacitated but not ready to go home. But these are not sick people. These are bored women, powdered and perfumed for dinner. This is terrible. This is a life without surprises. This is torpor. They're letting themselves fall apart.